General Assembly
of the United Nations
President of the 68th Session

Adam Malik (Indonesia)

Elected President of the twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly

Adam Malik, who was elected President of the twenty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly, has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia since March 1966.

He was born on 22 July 1917 in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, and was educated in a Dutch-ran primary school and a religious school. He became deeply involved in the Indonesian national movement from an early age., and in 1934 was elected Chairman of the Partai Indonesia in Pematang Siantar and Medan, North Sumatra.

He left Sumatra for Java and founded the Antara press bureau on 13 December 1937, which was later to become the Antara News Agency. He was continually active in politics and served as a member of the Executive Board of the Gerindo Party in 1940-1941 and later as a member of the Persattien Perdjoeangan (Struggle Front), a movement to maintain independence which was declared by the Indonesian nationalists on 17 August 1945.

During the period of the struggle to maintain independence, Mr. Malik also served as Third Deputy Chairman of the K.N.T., the first Indonesian parliament and as a member of its Daily Executive Board.

He was also one of the founders of the Partai Rakjat (People's Party) in 1946, and of the Murba Party in 1948, of which he was an Executive Member until the party was banned in 1964. He was elected to the House of Representatives as a representative of the Murba Party in 1956, and, in 1959, was appointed a member of the Provisional Supreme Advisory Council.

He began his career in foreign affairs in November 1959 when he was appointed Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Poland. In March 1962, he led the successful negotiations with the Netherlands over West Irian which were held in Middleburg, Virginia.

He become a member of the Executive Board of Antara in September 1962, and in November 1963, was appointed Minister of Commerce and Deputy Commander of KOTOE (Operation Economy). He was chief of the Indonesian delegation to the first United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1964 in Geneva. In 1965, he served as Minister/co-ordinator for the Implementation of Guided Economy.

In September 1965, he formed what was regarded as a ruling triumvirate with General Soeharto and Sultan Hamengko Buvono IX, and was in charge of political and foreign affairs, and has held the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs since March 1966.

He has since represented Indonesia at various international conferences and was the Chairman of the Indonesian delegation to General Assembly sessions since 1966. He was the Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Indonesia to the Twenty-Fifth Commemorative Session of the United Nations in October 1970, and has accompanied President Soeharto on State visits to Japan, Cambodia., Malaysia, Thailand and the United States.